Title of article :
Effects of Soil Texture, Irrigation Intervals, and Cultivar on some Nut Qualities and Different Types of Fruit Blankness in Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.)
Author/Authors :
Hosseini, Najmeh Department of biology - faculty of sciences - Shahid Bahonar university of Kerman - Kerman, Iran , Rezanejad, Farkhondeh Department of biology - faculty of sciences - Shahid Bahonar university of Kerman - Kerman, Iran , Zamani Bahramabadi, Elaheh Department of biology - faculty of sciences - Shahid Bahonar university of Kerman - Kerman, Iran
Abstract :
Fruit blankness is an important problem of pistachio cultivation, which results from many reasons. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of soil texture, irrigation interval, and cultivar on nut quality and blankness of pistachio. The treatments included soil texture (light and
heavy), irrigation intervals (24 and 48 days), cultivar (Kaleghoochi and Ahmadaghaei), and their interactions were studied. Measured traits
were flower and small fruit abscission rate, nut weight, blank and semiblank
fruit percentage, splitting percentage, and ounce. Symptoms of
fruit blankness were determined by anatomical study of blank fruits.
Results showed that a 48-day irrigation interval produced nuts with
higher quality, lower blankness percentage, higher weight and size, and
higher number of split ones than the other treatments. It is assumed
that plants produce more fruits by sufficient water supply, thus the
competition for photosynthetic products results in smaller, lowerweight
seeds. Light soil was more suitable regarding nut qualities, but
flower and small fruit abscission rates were higher in light soil probably
because of temperature fluctuations in this soil. Anatomical studies
showed that blankness could result from a lack of fertilization
(parthenocarpy) or embryo abortion (stenospermocarpy).
Parthenocarpy mostly occurred in the more sensitive cultivar,
Kaleghoochi, while the more tolerant cultivar, Ahmadaghaei, mostly had
stenospermocarpic blank fruits. It was also determined that embryo abortion could occur at different stages of development.
Keywords :
anatomy , embryo abortion , irrigation , parthenocarpy , soil texture
Journal title :
International Journal of Horticultural Science and Technology